Trunk-or-Treat

What a fun night!  Our Halloween festivities were kicked off tonight with "trunk-or-treat" following evening church services.  The boys hopped, danced, skipped, and ran from trunk-to-trunk, echoing the other spooks with the famous "trick-or-treat!".  It was a seasonably cool evening and we all had an enjoyable time.

The boys are both at such a perfect age for Halloween fun... this year we are "fightin' and fixin'" at our house.  Lawson is fighting as Kung Fu Panda, and Emmitt is fixing as Bob the Builder... they chose these costumes, and we obliged, although neither child has seen much of either character on T.V..  As a matter of fact, Lawson is scared of the Kung Fu Panda movie which we rented from Red Box, and returned unwatched... BUT his friend informed him that KFP was the best fighter in the whole wide world, and that was that.

So cute, isn't he?

"Bob Builder", {pronounced super fast with little lip movement!}, according to Emmitt...

And here are the only shots I got of Lawson in full dress... he and Nolan are waiting on "go" to trunk-or-treat!

Full pumpkins = time to go home!!

More to come on Halloween night!!

Here's to a great week... I hope yours is enjoyable!

Thanks for reading!

Soccer {Lawson}

Hello, there... I hope this finds you doing well, and enjoying cooler, fall-like temperatures!

Things are good at our house, and maybe, just maybe this will begin the blogging marathon in which I need to run.  A friend of mine recently posted how she "craves" blogging as she doesn't want to forget even one tiny memory... so perfectly taken from my mind.

Me going back to school has rocked our world, to say the least, but we are making it.  Russ is totally rocking it with his amazing help in getting the boys up, dressed, and out the door each morning.  His support, encouragement, cheering-me-on, and love has helped me so much as I've moved back into working outside of our home.  It hasn't been the easiest of transitions, I must admit... My expectations were a little too high, and I have been so thankful for him over the past seven weeks.

Anyway, although some days feel like they are coming and going in the blink of an eye, we are still making lots of memories, hence my "craving".

Some of our most recent memories stem from Lawson's new sports journey.  He is officially a soccer player! ;) And he is LOVING it!! And as you can guess, we have lots of soccer pictures!

Here he is... ready for his first soccer practice!

He definitely looks like his daddy in this picture...

Unlike tee ball, he is able to play soccer here in Martin at the age of 4, which is great!

We've been blessed with two awesome soccer coaches... Coach Wes and Coach Mark... they are so good with the kids!

Big Kicks!

Dribbling the ball up the field... 

Speaking of "dribble", who in the world decided to use that word for two different sports, meaning two different things depending on the sport?

Gotta love the English language... but we've finally got it now!

Dribbling in soccer = KICK!!

A happy boy... telling us all about it on the way home!

Pics from Game 1 to come soon!

As another friend says, I just might become a Blogasaurus as I run this blogging marathon!  

Isn't that a cute expression?! :)

We're proud of you, Lawson Bragg, and more importantly we're so happy that you're having fun!!

We love you, Big Brother!

Wordless Wednesday

A Big Day!

It's going to be a big day, and we are very excited about the happenings to come over the course of the afternoon...

First of all, our sweet Baby Weston is coming to Martin to visit... I'm not sure who's most excited... Granny, Grandmother and Granddad, me and Russ, or the big cousins, Lawson and Emmitt!!  You can count on pictures! ;)

Secondly, it's time for the "big" hair cut.  If you remember, back in May of 2011, I shared the plans my sister and I had made to donate our hair to Locks of Love, in honor of Sweet Hailey.  You can read about her journey here, here, and here.  The time has come, and although I am nervous about my new "look", I am excited about packaging up my locks and dropping them in the mail in the hope of boosting the self-esteem and confidence of a little girl or boy as they travel the journey of chemotherapy or another illness resulting in the loss of their hair.  As Amber cuts my 10 1/2 inches today, I will be thinking and remembering that sweet little girl, Hailey Ann, as she is now a beautiful angel in Heaven.

If you're wondering about my sister, Julie Anne, she will continue growing her hair as she lacks about 3-4 inches.  She looks so pretty... I love when she wears it curly!  :)  I will also keep you posted on the donation of her locks.  And you can count on pictures from today!!

And lastly, I am excited about the fact that our house is slowly coming together.  FINALLY.  The light is at the end of the tunnel.  Tomorrow will officially be the last day of my stay-home-mom career as next week Lawson begins school full-time, and Emmitt will be cared for by various girls over the next 11 days as he awaits for his "spot" at The Children's Center, {which he remains adamant that he is NOT going to school}.  I will begin working at school, and attending various inservices next week.  A huge adjustment is on its way to our house!

That's all... although my head is full of swimming thoughts that are overwhelming, we are excited and thankful for the many opportunities for our family in the coming weeks.  Lots will be happening and lots of pictures will be shared.  Have a great rest of the week, and an enjoyable weekend!

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You.  Psalm 63:5

Wordless Wednesday

Visiting Baby Weston

So, the past two days were really special.  We headed to Nashville to see Baby Weston on Tuesday afternoon, arriving around 7:30 pm... within the first 30 minutes of us being there, we were able to lay our eyes and our hands on this sweet baby... it was so special.

He is just beautiful and perfect in every way.  The prettiest little face, hair, and big boy hands.

Lawson was allowed to go back to see his baby cousin, however Emmitt was not old enough.  At first he didn't seem to notice, but the second time was not so easy on the little brother.  Bless his heart.  He will hopefully get to see him soon.  And kiss his head. :)

Uncle Jim, Lawson, and Baby Weston

Kissing his head. :)

My fave... dad's hand on this beautiful baby's head.

Isn't he beautiful and perfect?

love.him.so.much.

While we were there, the boys thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful hospital.

These butterflies welcomed us each time we got off of the elevator.

They are labeled with the hundreds whom have made donations to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.

A pretty good shot for 11:30 pm... :)

Aunt Erin is looking great, too!

*Notice the plethora of stickers on Lawson's shirt?  The NICU nurses loaded us up with lots of stickers!

They were so sweet!

I loved this art wall.  

Would love to have one of these in our playroom and in my classroom... maybe someday soon.

This was a pretty wooden statue, carved into a horse and little girl. 

Of course, Emmitt really liked it.

Here is a wall of mosaic shapes, located in the cafeteria area.

The first night we were there, we ate supper with Jim and Erin at 10:30 pm.  

There, of course, was no one there but us, and a few workers; less than ten people including us.  It is a large area, and the kids had it all to themselves.  They were hilarious mimicking the 20+ characters on the wall.  The next day during the lunch rush hour, however, was NOT the time to be mimicking.  We couldn't keep them away from the wall, and thank goodness they didn't trip someone as they played all around the wall.

The lobby was also all to ourselves the first night.  They had so much fun, and ran off lots of energy before our beyond-midnight-bedtime.  

There was a really cool stage area, and they put on quite the show for us...

We took a break from the waiting room with Grandmother and went outside to the patio area.  It was a little on the humid side, but getting a breath of fresh air was certainly needed.

Although waiting rooms are typically not designed for children, and in comparison to the other areas of the hospital it wasn't as kid-friendly, but nonetheless they did a great job overall.  We were very pleased and proud of their behavior.  Lawson plays games, {pbskids, disney jr., and nick jr.}, very well on the computer... he was so kindly sharing with, and helping Emmitt on the computer.

They are finally beginning to play together... except with little brother decides to HIT big brother... what to do with these terrible two's?  School will be so good for him.

That's all of our pictures from our special time at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.

More importantly, Baby Weston... he is doing so well.  We just received a phone call, and as of now, they are hoping to take their bundle of joy home in the next 48 hours!!  Your prayers, along with MANY others, are being answered!  And I, along with our family, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

We are very encouraged by his progress, and ask that you continue to keep him, Jim, and Erin in your prayers.  We also are thanking God for answering the hundreds of prayers that have been spoken on his behalf.
He has been so good to us.  Our faith has certainly been strengthened.

To Him be the Glory for great things He hath done!

Now therefore, our God, we THANK YOU, and PRAISE Your glorious name... 1 Chronicles 29:13